


The Frozen Wanderer

by Kami018



Category: Hollow Knight (Video Games), Minecraft (Video Game)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-28
Updated: 2020-09-16
Packaged: 2021-01-05 03:47:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 6,763
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21206879
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kami018/pseuds/Kami018
Summary: The Pale King once said that his kingdom is the first and last kingdom. But any mortal bug can tell you that is not true. So what if someone from lands so far away, that not even the Pale King knew of them, came and visited the frozen corpse of Hallownest?





	1. The Foreigner

**Author's Note:**

> I'm doing this for fun, so I'll have a very sporadic up-date schedule.  
Just fair warning.

The freezing winds of the wastes pushed against the small body harshly, threatening to steal the very ground from beneath them. The young knight struggled against the wind, their pace slowed to a crawl. Their little arms held in front of their face to try and block the sand from getting into their eyes too much. Desperate to find a shelter to weather the storm.

The wind shifted, taking their balance with it. It drove their tumbling form for a distance before hitting something with a soft _ tink. _ The young knight, dizzy, looked at what they hit.

It was a pair of legs, covered with bandages stained gray with time and light blue armor that had a purple iridescence. Looking up, the young knight gazed at the worn purple cloak, the faded black scarf, and finally, to the surprised cerulean eyes peeking from within the folds of said scarf.

The stranger stared for a moment before kneeling down. Their bandaged hands moved a large shield to act as a wind block for a moment, sticking it in the loose grains of sand. They freed their right arm from the strap and started to make a strange set of gestures.

The knight tilted their head in confusion. The stranger sighed, sounding very tired. They gestured behind them, pointing to a cave a short distance away. They stood back up and offered their hand.

They were offering shelter.

The young knight, hesitant, accepted the offered hand. They’ll stay until the wind storm lightens up at the very least.

The stranger stood hunched over a little to compensate for the knight’s smaller stature. Re-equipping their shield, the stranger acted a both a wind block and an anchor for the young knight. The wind didn’t bother the stranger as much as it did with the knight, being bigger and heavier then them.

Once in the shelter of the cave, the sight of a cozy little fire and a bedroll was the first thing the knight saw. Then the food the fire was heating up was the next thing they took notice. It was obvious that the stranger came from very far away lands, seeing that they brought very foreign food with them, plenty to last the stranger several weeks if they rationed them right.

The stranger sat on their bed roll and brought out a well-loved book and a quill. The knight sat down across from them, uncomfortably waiting for the other to do...something.

The stranger showed the knight what they wrote.

_ Can you read this? _

The knight, surprised that the stranger knew Palic, nodded dumbly. The words were written carefully, like the stranger wasn’t all that comfortable writing them.

The stranger wrote something again.

_ Can you talk? _

The knight shook their head.

The stranger gave that tired look again in response.

_ Can you write? _

The knight nodded.

The stranger sighed in relief, looking up for a moment before looking back to the knight.

_ The name’s Kami, kah-mi. Mind writing your name? _

The stranger, Kami, handed her book and quill to the knight. The knight looked at the objects for a moment, they wrote ‘no name’ before handing it back.

Kami stared at the book for a long moment before she started writing again.

_ Random question, how old are you? _

The knight tilted their head in confusion to the question, but held up the appropriate number of claws to tell their age.

Kami sat there for a long moment.

_ Where are your parents? _

The knight shrugged briefly, the hazy images of pale light flashing through their mind.

Kami stared at the knight for a moment more, then they got up and walked farther into the cave. The knight stayed where they were for a moment, tempted to follow the kind stranger. Until the sound of rocks breaking with tremendous force echoed back.

The knight decided it wasn’t worth it.

They sat there for a moment, uncomfortably glancing around until their gaze fell on the book Kami was using. Curious about the other contents in the book, the knight scooted over and picked it up.

Turning to the first page told them right away that Kami came from another land entirely, seeing that the written language was completely foriegn to them. Although, Kami seemed to use the first page to help her translate her language into Palic.

Using it as a cheat sheet, the young knight opened the book to begin reading it.

And what a story it told.


	2. The Journal

_ Attention reader, you may be reading this before I finished my story. That is fine, this isn’t some diary that contains my deepest, darkest secrets or anything stupid like that. This is an autobiography-in-progress, so it isn’t complete. So you don’t have to sneak by me to read this book again if you wish to see what I wrote. Just ask me. Enjoy! _

_ Entry 1 _

_ Today is the day, the day that I move from my little village and explore the great big world that I was born into. To finally hear the voice of my Guidance, to build grand structures, to fight deadly foes, to mine in the deepest of caves, to do everything that I was taught since I could walk. I know it’s not going to be easy, but I’m determined to make it out there. _

_ I packed everything already, and the farewell party done and over with. I’ll say my last goodbyes to my family and mentors in a bit and receive their last gifts. For now, I’m going to enjoy every second of my hammock as I can. _

_ It’s going to be awhile before I can enjoy such a luxury. _

_ Entry 2 _

_ I can’t believe this, I can’t believe they just gave me this. A complete set of fully enchanted diamond armor. Diamond is rare and highly valuable. And the enchants, bloody hell this thing is beefed up to the moon and back. _

_ What the hell were they thinking, giving me this literal goldmine to me instead of selling it to earn a hefty reward. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to beat that. I would have said how unworthy I was to receive such a gift if, you know, I wasn’t a mute. _

_ Other than that, nothing has really happened since I started, just kinda hiding in a hole until daylight. I need to gather resources tomorrow. _

_ Entry 3 _

_ Found a village, a ransacked one, but a village nonetheless. If I’m lucky, I’ll be able to find some free stuff the raiders overlooked. The villagers certainly wouldn’t be needing it anymore. _

_ It’s been only, like what, two weeks? And I’m so tired already. I knew this wasn’t going to be easy, but bejeezus, this is ridiculous. _

_ Entry 4 _

_ Found some crops that weren’t destroyed and a patchwork bedroll. Also some kids. I don’t know if the raiders were feeling spiteful or merciful. Anyway, I have several kids to take to the next village. Yay… _

_ At least I have some experience taking care of children. _

_ Entry 5 _

_ Worst. Trip. Ever. _

_ At least the little devils are out of my hair. _

_ The village even gave me this cool scarf for my troubles. _

_ ...This so wasn’t worth the effort. Glad I did it, but still. _

_ Entry 6 _

_ Found this beautiful pine wood forest. I quite like it here, I may just settle in a place like this once I satisfy my wanderlust. Maybe a snowy forest. _

_ Yeah, a nice little cottage in the middle of a snowy taiga, a couple of dogs and maybe a cat. I like the sound of that. _

_ I think my Guidance’s natural affinity to ice and snow are influencing some things. _

_ Entry 7 _

_ Found a desert temple, so glad that one wanderer warned me about the temples being bobby-trapped most of the time. Found some sweet loot. _

_ I wonder who built these things. _

_ Entry 8 _

_ It’s been awhile since I last opened this, not much has happened since I last wrote in this. Managed to find the materials to make a diamond sword, not as good as any of my mentors before me, but it’ll serve its purpose just fine. _

_ Lost my helmet during a sea temple raid. Lost my shoes due to good old fashion wear and tear. I've taken to using some bandages to protect my hands and feet now. I’ve been acting more like a mercenary for hire than a wanderer at this point, and freelancing became my hobby. Jeez, where has the time gone. _

_ Oh, before I forget. I was gifted a violin as a sort of ‘bonus’ for a job well done. I’ve gotten, uh, decent? I don’t know, I’m kinda winging it here. _

_ Entry 9 _

_ I’m in the biggest city on the continent, staying at a relatively cheap inn, performing the occasional gig with my violin, doing the odd job to earn a good income. It’s not so bad here in the big city. I even managed to buy a nice coat. I’ve been getting progressively colder as of late._

_ Heard a rumor from the sailors going around town, about some land no one has only ever seen, but never been too. Sounds like an adventure. I’ll see what I can scrounge up, right now, I’m going to sleep. _

_ I forgot how good a bed actually feels, that's how long I’ve been away from society. _

_ I think I’ll send a letter to my village before I do anything yet, tell everyone that I’m okay and all that jazz. _

_ Entry 10 _

_ I’ve never been out to sea before, but I’m not halfway off the ship because I’m so sick unlike my sudden companion. His story is similar to mine, only his village kinda coddled him a little and he’s hasn’t been out that long. I kinda just let him retch on his side of the ship while I sat at the other. _

_ Never realized that I’m severely lacking in social skills. I’m so glad that I’m not the first wanderer this crew has dealt with. They have all been so lovely so far. And apparently, I’m one of the few wanderers that actually helped around the ship instead of enjoying all my sudden free time lounging around. _

_ I jokingly said, “what’s free time?” _

_ We all had a good laugh. _

_ No one bothered the kid since he obviously wasn’t in shape to help with the sailing and he’s a bit too wet behind the ears for me to have a decent conversation without it turning into a lesson of some sort. My tolerance has diminished quite a bit during the years I’ve left my village. _

_ Entry 11 _

_ Been a month since we set sail, the kid left as soon we got to an island port two weeks in. He’s probably back on the mainland by now. _

_ It’s been smooth sailing for awhile, which is having everyone, including myself, paranoid. For the sailors, superstition states that if they don’t get any rain for a while, a massive storm is approaching. For me, cause nothing in my life is that simple or peaceful. I packed all my stuff and had it on my person if and/or when it inevitably hits. _

_ Entry 12 _

_ Did I ever mentioned how much I hate sand. Cause I do, with a fiery passion. It gets everywhere and into places it shouldn’t. Fuck sand. _

_ Long story short, I’ve been shipwrecked and I can’t find anyone from the crew. At least I’m at my destination… I think. _

_ I know for a fact that we don’t have huge gray deserts back home. _

_ Hope everyone is okay, maybe Guidance can tell me their fate when she visits again. _

_ Entry 13 _

_ I'm starting to think this place used to be a desert, but suddenly turned into a tundra? A tundra that still has sand? I don’t know. I have found no life so far, no flora or fauna. And this wind, if I haven’t found this cave, I would’ve had a very hard time trying to write right now. _

_ I came across another wanderer, a pill bug by the name of Quirrel. I’m so glad that most of my continent’s sign language is the same on this continent’s. We stuck together for a bit, I gave him some of my rations and he told me about the ‘wastes’. We also found out that, even though the spoken language is the same and the signed is very similar, the written word isn’t. We helped each other with our respected written languages, I taught him English while he taught me Palic. I’ll start writing in Palic for practice in the next entry. I’ll add a translation page in the beginning to serve as a reminder for me. _

_ Entry 14 _

_ Quirrel and I went our separate ways, him going to try and find this ‘Hallownest’ and me going to explore more of the wastes. It’s been a few days since and I found another cave to take shelter, the wind storm is getting worse. _

_ I’m going to step out and try and orientate myself. Maybe decide my next course of action. Maybe I should find this Hallownest too, at least that’ll be something different. _

  
  


_ Can you read this? _

_ Can you talk? _

_ Can you write? _

_ The name’s Kami, kah-mi. Mind writing you name? _

** _no name_ **

_ Random question, how old are you? _

_ Where are your parents? _

Something just touched their head.


	3. A silent Conversation

Kami sat in the back of that cave for a while, shatter stalagmites and stalactites scattered around her. The moment she saw the little ghost’s penmanship, she knew that this guest of hers was a child. An _ eight year old child, _with no parents to look after them.

Most of the rage didn’t come from her, though she agreed that this was outrageous. Her Guidance is a highly empathetic and motherly creature, so it’s not hard for her Guidance to guess how the child felt.

Her Guidance is a mostly silent creature as well, but when they do speak, Kami can’t help but listen. It’s even rarer that they curse.

_ “Who the fuck allows a child to be on their own is such a hostile environment!?” _

Kami silently huffed in agreement, silently trying to decide to calm her Guidance or allow her to continue to rage.

The temperature dropped.

Kami sighed, her breath visible now.

“Calm down, you’re going to freeze the cave.” Kami signed.

It took a moment, but her Guidance did calm down or, at least, shoved their anger to the back of their mind.

_ “I apologize for my behavior My Chosen. That was unbecoming of me.” _

“I’d be more concerned if you didn’t react the way you did.”

They were quiet for a while, thinking about what they need to do now.

_ “What do you believe you need to do?” _

Sometimes, Kami wished her Guidance wasn’t nearly as compliant or as compassionate as they were. Leaving all these decisions to her can be exhausting at times.

“I can’t just leave them alone. Even if they’ve been out here for awhile, they are a child. They can’t handle everything by themselves.”

The small flake of approval drifted by her before her Guidance disappeared. The cold wrapping around her like a blanket.

Satisfied with her decision, Kami stood back up and went back to the mouth of the cave. 

She found the little ghost reading her journal. She tapped their head to get their attention.

The only reason her arm wasn’t gashed was the fact that this wasn’t the first time this sort of thing has happened. And she was pretty sure it wouldn’t be the last.

Kami yanked her arm back so fast, she lost her balance and promptly fell onto her hindquarters. Both wanderers looked at each other for a few tense moments, before Kami started to laugh in her silent way. Her shoulders bouncing as she held her hand to her mouth out of habit.

The Little Ghost was still tense, and a little confused now.

Kami took a few deep breaths to calm down. With mirth still swimming in her eyes, she gestured for the book. The child handed it to her, trying to keep as much distance between the two.

This failed of course, she could have picked them up and placed them in her lap if she wanted to with ease.

Kami wrote in her book, using her last ink pot, then she promptly did what was just stated.

The Little Ghost stiffened, but relaxed slightly when Kami didn’t do anything else. Kami tapped the book to draw their attention to it.

_ I apologize if I startled you. _

The Little Ghost looked at the text for a bit, then looked to the quill still loosely held in Kami’s hand. Kami handed the quill too the child.

** _sorry_ **

Kami took the quill back.

_ No need to apologize, your reaction was completely justified. I’m the one that needs to learn to stop scaring my guests that have sharp, pointy things on them. _

The Little Ghost’s shoulders bounced a little, giggling. Kami smiled a little at that.

They both sat there in silence, minds lazily looking for a topic.

Then The Little Ghost’s eyes wandered to the steaks, that was still near the fire. Kami suddenly remembering that they were _ still _there.

She cursed silently and used a stick to take the food away from the fire. They were overcooked, but they weren’t burnt thank goodness. She let them cool a little before picking them up again.

She offered one of them to the child. After a moment's hesitation, they accepted the offered food.

Kami didn’t hesitate to pull down her scarf to eat, though the bewildered look from the Little Ghost gave her pause. Quirrel did that too, now that she thinks about it.

_ Is my face really that strange? _ She wrote.

The Little Ghost shook their head so fast, adamantly denying that. They paused, before taking the quill back.

** _haven’t seen a face before. private thing_ **

Cultural differences, Kami was blaming cultural differences for both of their confusion.

_ It isn’t considered a private thing back where I’m from. Many show their faces back home. _

Despite the fact that the child’s eyes seemed to absorb the light around them, Kami swore the Little Ghost’s eyes shined with curiosity and giddiness.

They ate as Kami answered the questions of the child.

** _where do you come from?_ **

_ My people can’t seem to agree on a name for the continent. But myself and several Guided Ones that I’ve met have called it either Minecraft or Minecraftia though. _

** _guided ones?_ **

_ The best way I can describe it is that a select group of people get an entity, a Guidance, that follows and guides them to do a great deal of things. _

** _what kind of things?_ **

_ Anything really. Either in the Guided One’s interest or in the Guidance’s interest. A Guidance are as varied as their Guided. _

Many questions were asked. The topic switched and changed often, never staying for very long.

Kami, worried for her already limited ink supply, had asked the Little Ghost if they wished to learn_ some _ sign language.

They ended up staying in that cave long after the storm settled down.


	4. Insightful Observations

“Am I doing it right?”

“You are so far. I’m impressed. Many have a hard time learning to just sign, much less actually signing and having a full conversation with someone else who can sign.”

“I didn’t understand a lot of your words just now.”

“You’ll get the hang of it soon. These conversations will help.”

“Your using that word again.”

“Conversation?”

“That one!”

“C-O-N-V-E-R-S-A-T-I-O-N.”

“Thank you!”

The helpful stranger smiled with her eyes, her face once again hidden in her scarf to block the biting chill of the much more manageable wind. Ghost hopped a little as they walked, so very excited to finally have a way of communication and eager to talk to someone else.

The time spent in that cave was spent on learning sign language, unfortunately using up the rest of Kami’s limited supply of ink much to her dismay. They had a few practice conversations before they hit the hay, the storm gone but now very late.

When morning came, the two wanderers had decided to stick together, with Kami having nothing better to do and Ghost going somewhere with nothing more than a feeling. Kami had joked that Ghost had a Guidance too, one that was far more subtle and quiet than others. Ghost didn’t get the joke, even after it was explained to them.

The two would sign conversations often, and the moments of ‘silence’ just as often. They were only interrupted occasionally by an outside force.

During those moments, Ghost would observe the kind stranger turned travel companion. How they would look around for threats constantly, how they would hold a civil conversation with a bug of the wastes, how they would fight.

The young knight logically knew that Kami had some formal training, but she was largely self-taught. But one wouldn’t know that by watching her. She fights with a certain grace that fully trained warriors could only get with experience, something she had in spades. Her ‘enchantments’ just make her that much deadlier. Many times Ghost would be caught off guard when a foe would be set ablaze with a swipe of Kami’s strange nail or get a tangle of thorny vines when she was struck. Ghost really wanted to spar with her, but knew that they would be beaten embarrassingly fast if they tried right now. Though, if they worked hard enough, they may have a chance.

Kami was just interesting to watch, more so when they talked to her. Moments of peace were always filled with questions about her homeland and her adventures exploring it, with her occasional questions sprinkled in there. The story with the sea temple terrified them, but it was their favorite one.

Then their would these little moments, where Kami would just hold them a few seconds longer, would sign soothing words after particularly tense situations, would look at them with an unknown emotion with her expressive eyes. Ghost would always feel warm from them, as if everything was alright in the world.

They didn’t know how much it affected them when they had thought they had lost her.

They were carefully scaling their way down a large cliff when it happened. A bad combination of a persistent vengefly and unstable ground resulted in Kami stepping on a loose rock.

The rock popped off the cliff.

Kami falling, not reacting due to shock.

Ghost reached out to try and grab her.

Ghost missed.

Kami made a face, a face that said this has happened thousands of times before and most likely will happen a thousand more. She turned around to face the ground. Than she wasn’t falling anymore, she was gliding. A set of grey ‘wings’ spread out to catch the winds.

She turned around to face the cliff once again, drawing something that Ghost could not see. Something crunched a distance above the knight, causing them to flinch and lose their footing.

They weren’t falling for long when an arm scooped them up and cradled them to a chest. Looking up, Ghost just caught the sight of Kami looking down at them, relief sweeping through her face. She looked back up, keeping an eye on her surroundings so not to run into anything.

Ghost, very much shaken, held Kami’s cloak with a steel grip. Their face buried into their companions neck, not out of fear of the height or the near plunge, but of relief and worry of the companion that had quickly become someone important. 

Ghost had refused to relinquish their grip on Kami after she landed, and continued to do so until the darkest hours of the night, and only because Ghost had fallen asleep to Kami’s heartbeat and even breathing of sleep. The entire time Kami didn’t make any gesture of displeasure or annoyance.

Upon waking, Ghost was still warmly tucked into the bedroll they shared with Kami, who was still fast asleep. The embers of the fire have long since grown cold. The Little Ghost looked back on the previous day and many others, trying to find when and where this particular feeling started up. They started recognizing a patterned from both before and after Kami arrived.

Before Kami, they wandered the land in a sort of daze. There was no goal in their steps, no plan in their mind, or emotion lacing their actions. In fact, it seemed that they didn’t think or feel much _ at all. _ But after Kami, they started feeling and thinking a lot more. They hadn’t even realized it when it happened nor exactly when it did. Was it when they were wary of her or when they became excited to learn about someplace so foreign to them?

It ultimately didn’t matter in the end, just a rather insightful observation. They were content with what they had and were willing to travel the wastes for an eternity if not for one thing. The cry they heard, shouting, begging to end its suffering. A cry that was laced with another, one filled with rage, desperation, and sadness.

Until the cries were answered and put to rest, the Little Ghost would continued to the place where the voices wanted them to be. Only with a beloved companion now with them.

Companion didn’t sound right, family sounded better.

With that sorted in their mind, Ghost proceeded to wake their new family member to continue their journey.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A very short chapter because the creator's ancient enemy has come to make her life difficult once more.

Kami had long since concluded that the land was cursed in some fashion. The sun never showed its face in these lands, and the moon and stars were always absent in the night sky. Kami was so happy that her watch wasn’t affected by this curse, still reading the time just fine, as it should. But it also serves to confuse her as well. Their were no curses that she was aware of that did something like this, or any curses that were this big to begin with. And the fact that there were no mobs popping in was both worrisome and relieving.  
Ghost wasn’t very helpful in this aspect either, they were as clueless as Kami is. That both sadden and anger her, though she pushed it back for a moment to focus on the matter at hand. They’ll simply learn together.  
She needed more information, but she didn’t know where to go, much less where to begin. She silently sighed, resigned to let things come to her instead of actively searching for answers.  
The wanderers walked in their companionable silence, the Little Ghost taking point as usual.  
Kami always had a tinge of sadness when she watched Ghost. There would be moments where they do act like the child that they are, but those are only moments. Most of the time, she sees a silent warrior. Harden by the trials of life from an early start.  
But now she’s starting to see the cracks in the walls the little knight put up.  
A little knight, no taller than her knee, not counting their horns of course.  
A little knight who loves to cuddle with her in her bedroll or next to a fire.  
A little knight, starry eyed when she told stories and lessons.  
Ghost, the little knight looking up at her like a little sibling would.  
Kami paused at that, though her stride never faltered.  
It has been a long time since Kami has been a sibling. Not since her brother’s execution has she made an attempt at trying to find a sibling bond again. But then she would look at the knight again and a smile would sneak itself onto her face.  
She took a moment to think, but she simply shrugged.  
The feeling was mutual.


	6. The Beginning of Something New

“Have you been to many cities?”

“I’ve been to enough that I’m honestly quite bored with them. They start looking the same after a while.”

“That must've been very...sad?”

“Sad, no. Disappointing, yes.”

“What’s that word?”

“D-I-S-A-P-P-O-I-N-T-I-N-G.”

“Thank you!”

Kami chuckled as Ghost did a bit of hop, happy to have learned a new word. Their understanding of sign language was expanding at a steady, albeit slow, pace.

They were walking down a long faded road, the only indications of its existence being the half buried lamp posts jutting out of the ground. They were still going the same direction as they had been, but the signs of civilization were clearer now.

Kami’s expectations were pretty low already, seeing the obvious signs of neglect meaning a great deal of outcomes. The most likely outcome being that the place was abandoned, ransacked, or just died because of one thing or another. She did have a small hope that someone would be around, for information gathering if for nothing else.

Their trek was a long one, breaks were taken often. But they did find a sign.

A single lamp post, well taken care of, and lit up with a small firefly-like bug. The wanderers looked at each other, excited with the prospect of civilization.

The two wanderers picked up their pace to reach the lamp post, soon evolving into a sort of race. Kami winning with her longer strides and Ghost keeping a close second.

Then Kami promptly fell off the cliff. Panicking, Ghost jumped off the cliff to try and rescue her.

The groan was clearly visible on Kami's face, the sound not needed. The Elytra Wings spread out and slowed her fall, but they did nothing when Ghost collided with her. The two wanderers fell the rest of the way. Landing with a hard thud and an airy wheeze, Kami laid with Ghost sitting on her back, dazed.

Ghost scrambled off the breathily wheezing Kami and crawled to her face. The young knight started to gently patting their companion's head to see if she would respond. 

A click of her tongue was her response.

Kami laid there for a time, getting her breath back. The fall hurt, but nothing was broken or anything like that. It just knocked her breath out for the most part.

Getting back up was a chore, but she managed. Ghost was close by, holding Kami's leg like that could keep her from collapsing.

Kami smiled in appreciation for the Little Ghost's efforts. She took a few deep breaths, taking a quick glance around, then started to walk. She had a limp and she held her side, but she was moving without expressing too much pain or discomfort. 

Ghost stuck close to Kami's side as she made her way to a door. A door with no obvious way of opening.

One look between the two travelers had sealed the door’s fate, and the several other doors just beyond.

_ Fuck those spikes, fuck my leg, fuck that cliff, fuck those stupid fly things, fuck everything. _

Were the thoughts of one Kami as she limped down the worn cobblestone road with the Little Ghost hovering around her like a worried chick.

Traveling through that forgotten path was a pain, and seeing as most of the paths were rather small, most of which made her crawl, Kami had no choice as to: fall into a pit, walk through a room full of spikes, have a disadvantaged fight with some Vengeflys in said room, proceed to fall down another cliff, and sprained her ankle.

Now she was walking down a decaying path, aggravating her ankle even more, and using her shield as a terribly clunky cane.

She was just done with the day, night, evening, whatever the fuck the time was!

“Are you going to be okay?” Ghost signed.

A curt nod was her only answer.

She just wanted to find some sort of shelter, and pass out. And Notch be praised that there was a village not too far from her position. 

As Kami limped as fast as she could, Ghost rushed ahead to try and get the attention of some elderly bug standing by a bench. After many failed attempts to get the elder to simply turn around, Ghost simply walked around him and pointed back at their companion. Finally turning around, the elder spotted the limping Kami just make it past the first building of the village.

Elderbug started, initially frightened by the never before seen creature, but quickly shook off his fright and made his way to the wanderer. Provided his support to the stranger, the two made their way over to the bench. Where the limping Kami finally sat down and picked up her sprained ankle for a brief examination.

With a sigh, Kami signed,  “I shouldn’t be walking for a while, Ghost. So I’ll be stuck top side until my ankle heals enough for later exploration.”

“What was that last word?”

“E-X-P-L-O-R-A-T-I-O-N.”

“Thank you!”

“I’m sorry to interrupt young ones, but I have asked what you two are doing.” asked Elderbug.

Kami tried to think of a way to communicate with the elder, but just had to fall back to miming. She pointed both to Ghost and herself, pointed at her throat, then crossed her arms into an X while shaking her head ‘no’.

It took the Elder moment to piece together what she said, “You two are unable to speak?”

Kami nodded.

“And those gestures you two were doing, is that how you communicate to one another?”

Again, Kami nodded. Then she made a motion like she was writing something.

“Ah, but you can write. Forgive me, but I don’t have anything for you to borrow so you could speak to me.”

Kami shrugged, having found herself in another situation where she had no conceivable way to communicate with the people around her. She would have used a stick and the dirt, but that wasn’t an option within a small town with cobbled streets.

“But there is a cartography shop opening soon, perhaps you could purchase ink and parchment when the couple that run it do open.”

Kami perked up at that, she’s been getting itchy for some ink to continue journaling again. She just had to wait until the couple opened their shop, and get the necessary currency to trade with them.

Of course she isn’t going anywhere at the moment, not with such a bad sprain hindering her movements, that’s not even going into the whole ‘establishing a base of operations and setting up of a portal’ deal that she has going on.

She snapped her fingers to get Ghost’s attention,  “I’m not going to be able to be of great help for a while with my ankle and the multitude of things that I have to do for my Guidance’s peace of mind. Do you want to go scout out our next destination?”

“No, I want to explore with you! I can wait until you get better.”

“But I did say that I’m going to have to do many other things after words, my Guidance is a mother hen but I can’t deny that her and her father’s methods are sound and have saved me long journeys back to previous locations.”

Ghost looked down in disappointment, having been so excited to explore the rest of ‘Hallownest’ with Kami.

“Chin up Ghost, I’ll try to get this done as fast as possible. And when I’m done, I can show you my home land. Until then, you can explore as far as you want.”

That cheered Ghost up quite a bit. They hopped a bit, eager to see this ‘Minecraftia’ that Kami hails from.

Kami chuckled silently, idly massaging her sprain. She turned back to the patiently waiting Elderbug and tried to convey her wish to find some shelter.

_ Dirtmouth will never be the same after Kami was done with it. _


	7. A Journey Begins

The sounds of wood clanging together echoed out into the fading town of dirtmouth, disturbing the normally quiet atmosphere.

Kami huffed as she took a seat, wiping the sweat that had accumulated upon her brow. It's been a couple of days and progress was… it was going. Her ankle didn't hurt as much now, but heavy exploration was still off the table.

So Kami did what all Guided One's do when faced with this situation, she started building. Even though Elderbug said that the village was all but abandoned, constructing a new building was some of the only ways that Kami could expend energy that wasn’t spent on journaling, exploring, or mining.

It also helped that literally all the houses were super small and would have made her crawl to act as a very covenant excuse.

_ “My Chosen, I have informed my father, and in extension your’s, of our coordinates. They are very far away from the compound, so they’ll arrive in a few weeks.” _

“Thank you. I’m really starting to thank you for being the paranoid creature that you are, I’m pretty sure that I would be starving in a few days.” Kami glanced at the potato farm lit up with glowshrooms she had built.

It pays to have a Guidance that likes to silently fuss about their Chosen like a worried Mama.

_ “I am not paranoid, I just know what I’m doing. I’m not about to lose another Chosen because I didn’t prepare them appropriately.” _

Kami flinched at that, reminded that she isn’t the first Chosen from her Guidance. She honestly doesn’t know how her Guidance lost her previous Chosens, seeing as they have that unique power like all Guidances do. But everytime she asked, her Guidance would go quiet and eventually return to wherever they came from.

Kami did have a theory.

_ “The Little Ghost has returned from their latest adventure.” _

Kami perked up and looked over to the well, indeed seeing her little sibling emerge from the well.

That was another thing her Guidance has been doing lately, they would follow Ghost for a short time. As far as Kami was aware, they were just observing and taking notes about notable landmarks and such.

Kami whistled to get Ghost’s attention.

The Little Ghost perked up when they saw their sister, rushing over to tell her what they found on their latest adventure. Taking Kami’s lap as hostage until they were done telling her their adventures.

* * *

“Then I met this really nice bug called Quirrel, he was in the weird building I told you about yesterday. He’s really cool.”

“Really now. You know, I met a bug by the name of Quirrel sometime before I met you.”

“I did know that.”

“Right, you read my journal.”

“Maybe he’s the same Quirrel, he was really smart when I met him. And he understood sign language.”

“Perhaps, but anyone can learn sign and I bet there are plenty of people named Quirrel.”

“Won’t know until we asked. Are you going to explore with me next time?”

“Light exploration and minimal combat I think I can do well enough, but I can’t do much more than that.”

Ghost hopped a bit in Kami lap, finally getting Kami to explore with them. Kami chuckled silently at Ghost’s excitement.

“I’ll go get some supplies for the trip. How about you go catch up with the rest of the village?”

Little Ghost rapidly nodded and zoomed off to Elderbug.

Kami chuckled again and got up. She made her way to the house that she and Ghost have temporarily claimed as their own, getting back onto her knees to crawl into the small building.

She’s so looking forward to her project being finished.

* * *

With a mighty thump, the Little Ghost landed at the bottom of the well that led to the Crossroads. The sound of long rusted chains rattling proceeded after, followed by a gentle landing by the cloaked Kami.

A quick glance around, Kami re-equipped her shield and kept her sword, Cerulean, drawn. Her quick nod signaled Ghost that she was ready to begin the journey.

A quick glance down at their map, Ghost led the way to a place that they believe leads to another area that they have yet to explore.

The two wanderers quickly fell back to their old routines back out in the Wastelands. Though no silent conversations were held, being in unfamiliar lands as they were. They kept a constant eye out for threats, and dealt with many minor threats that encroached.

Kami was both relieved and concerned about the zombie-like former residences of the kingdom. She has never seen such variety in the standard zombie back home, nor did any of them have sickly orange eyes and blood that glowed.

Something else has captured the dead in it’s thrall here, something very angry and very desperate.

This will require more research.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just wanted to say that since I started this strange little crossover of mine, I have read so many other stories that claimed they were inspired by my story or inspired by a story that was inspired my mine, and so on and so forth.  
I am so proud that my silly little idea seems to have taken so many of you. And I just had to write just a little bit more, being inspired all over again.  
I hope others continue to enjoy this story and for it to inspire other works too.
> 
> Thank you so much for your patience and I look forward to reading your comments soon.


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